Extraordinary risk insurance – Playing it safe in a dangerous world

  February was an unsettling month in Lebanon and not just on the political front. On February 15, the country experienced a earthquake that registered 5.1 on the Richter scale, according to the Bhannes Center for Seismic and Scientific Research. And although just a few injuries were recorded, it was definitely a reminder that danger can come from other than the political sphere. Every year catastrophes and disasters kill tens of thousands of people around the globe. In 2006, the most recent year for which precise numbers are available, the Zurich based reinsurance giant Swiss Re estimated that 213 manmade disasters and 136 natural catastrophes killed 31,000 people worldwide. Earthquakes caused the most damage. In Indonesia alone, two earthquakes claimed 6,600 lives. The financial losses from these events were not small either, amounting to a whopping $48 billion in total. Other natural catastrophes accounted for most of the damage checking